Online Newsletter

Excerpted from our print newsletter. See the printed newsletter for detailed
Field Trip directions and reports, for phone and addresses for yard visits and
additional articles. Join now to obtain
the benefits of full membership!

The Florida Yards and Neighborhoods
(FYN) program enlists homeowners, previously identified through UF research
as contributing to the decimation of Florida's natural resources through
inappropriate landscape practices, to help protect these natural resources.
FYN emphasizes not only the use of native plants but also "Florida-Friendly"
landscape principles such as nutrient recycling, reducing storm-water
run-off, using slow-release fertilizers and least-toxic pesticides. The
Certified Yard Program is an educational outreach tool used to spread
the message of sustainable landscaping among Miami-Dade residents. Set
a good example for your neighborhood -- find out how you can get your
own yard certified.

UPCOMING FIELD TRIPS (DADE)

Field trips are for the study of plants and enjoyment of nature by
FNPS members (Dade and Keys) and their invited guests. Children are welcome.
Details are contained in the printed newsletter mailed each month to members.
Collecting is not permitted. Please join
today so that you can enjoy all the benefits of membership!

Saturday, March 26: Matheson Hammock Park. This is one of the best
examples of coastal rockland hammocks in Florida. Over 100 acres of restored
forest possessing unique geological formations such as solution holes covered
with tropical ferns, and some of the largest hammock trees remaining in
Dade County. If time permits, we will also visit the mangrove community.

Sunday, April 17: Okaloacoochee Slough in Hendry County. We were
there in October, 2003, and liked it so much that we want to visit in the
dry season, too.

Print plant lists by conservation area before field trips from The
Institute for Regional Conservation's Web site, www.regionalconservation.org.
Register to get a password.

ACTIVITIES IN THE KEYS

Monthly meetings are on third Wednesdays, November through April
(location varies). Field trips are on the Saturday following most meetings.
To receive email reminders of Keys Group activities, send your request to
douville@bellsouth.net.

Purchasing and planting fruit trees for you home garden can be time consuming
and expensive. Understanding how different tropical fruits adapt to the
local environment is important when making your selection. Some of our
native plants may be used indicators on how well their topical fruit relatives
survive in South Florida. We will be looking at those comparisons as well
as some of the folk uses those native plants.

Mary Ann Bolla has recently returned to Florida after working as a research
scientist for Abbott Laboratories. Prior to this, she worked as a Ranger/Naturalist
for Everglades National Park and for Dade County Parks. She is a fifth generation
Florida native and her newest grandchild will be a seventh.

FIELD TRIP: Saturday, March 19. Janice Duquesnel, Park Biologist,
will lead a walk through Curry
Hammock State Park. Field trips are for the study of plants and
enjoyment of nature by FNPS members and their invited guests. Please join
so that you can enjoy all of the chapter's activities!

NEXT MONTH:April 20 program "Orchids of Monroe County"
in Key Largo. April 23 Field trip to be announced.

Field trips are for the study of plants and enjoyment of nature by FNPS
members and their invited guests. Collecting is not permitted. Children
are welcome. Please join today so
you can enjoy all the chapter activities.

CHAPTER NEWS

Everglades National Park Volunteer Appreciation Dinner,
Friday, March 18. 5:30 p.m. at the Pine Island chickee (near the entrance.)
All chapter volunteers who have participated at the ENP workdays in the
past year are invited. RSVP by March 8 to Jackie (Jackie_Dostourian@nps.gov
or 305-242-7752.) Cajun food, awards, music, thank-you gifts and fun.

ENP chapter workday, Saturday, April 9. Been thinking about coming
-- how about now? It's our last maintenance day before planting new things
in June. Pruning, weeding, tagging plants, good company and free admission
to the park. We also need volunteers for occasional herbicide spraying
around the edges in between workdays. Please call Patty, 305-255-6404.

Chapter board members needed! Elections will be held at the May
meeting. The nominating committee is seeking members to hold positions
of directors at large, secretary and treasurer. You do not need to be a
plant expert! Please contact Amy Leonard (305-668-5993, 305-458-0969, aleonar74@yahoo.com)
to discuss how you might be able to serve.

Pots needed. Several members are asking for 4" pots. Please
bring your extras to a meeting or call Patty at 305-255-6404.

Design With Natives 2005.Do you know of a landscape or restoration
that deserves to be recognized? Yours? Or that nice one at the office
down the street? FNPS is seeking entries for this year's awards which will
be presented at the Annual Conference in May. The deadline is March
25. Application forms and details are at www.fnps.org,

Heartfelt thanks and best wishes to members Karsten and Carol Rist,
who are moving to North Carolina after many years of South Florida environmental
advocacy and service. Their support of FNPS and tireless and cheerful work
in countless organizations (especially Tropical Audubon Society), commissions
and boards, as well as their personal civic and environmental projects,
have truly made a difference and set an example for us all. We will miss
their wealth of expertise, their help and their friendship.

2005 Gifford Arboretum
Lecture and Art Opening. Thursday, March 31, 7:00-9:30 pm, Cox Science
Center, Univ. of Miami. Free and open to the public. Georgia Tasker,
Garden Writer of the Miami Herald, will speak on "The People,
Pleasures and Politics of Orchids." Tour of the Arboretum at
6:15 -- meet across from the corner of Robbia and San Amaro Streets at
the Wooden Sign. Reception at 8:30 with art exhibit, "Art on
Orchids: selected works from the collection of Bob Fuchs." Take
Red Road to Miller, then Miller east to U.M., turn left and look for the
sign on the right (third entrance to UM.) Free Parking. For more information
call 305-284-5364.

April 13: Return of the Native. Research biologist Keith
Bradley of The Institute for Regional Conservation discusses the
advantages of native plants at home and in the wild.

Key Largo Hammocks Botanical State Park Lecture Series.

The Delicate Balance of Nature. Tuesdays, 7:30pm - 8:30pm
at John D. Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park's Visitor Center, MM 102.5
(gate open only from 7:00pm-7:30pm.) Free, but seating is limited.
For more information call 305-451-1202.

Help the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Miami restore their
pineland. 7701 SW 76 Ave. Exotic plant removal and other help needed.
Chain saws, herbicide expertise and plain old elbow grease all welcome!
Workdays are held every 4th Saturday of the month. Next
workday March 26, 9:00am-Noon. Please call Karen Griffin to volunteer
and for more information: 305-582-6713.

Editors' Note: The editors apologize for the following
omissions in the February Tillandsia. The author of "The
Morning-Glories" was, of course, Roger Hammer. The leaders for
the field trip to the Coastal Prairie Trail were Rick and Jean Seavey.

The Dade Chapter Florida Native Plant Society is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization
dedicated to the understanding and preservation of Florida's native flora
and natural areas, and promoting native plants in landscapes.

The chapter includes residents of Miami-Dade County and the Keys. Meetings
in Miami-Dade County are on the 4th Tuesday of each month
except June, August and December at Fairchild Tropical Garden and are free
and open to the public. In June, members and their guests are invited to
an evening garden tour on the 4th Tuesday. Meetings in the
Keys are held on a varying schedule of dates and locations from Key
Largo to Key West. The basic FNPS membership (state and chapter) is $25
per year. Please contact DCFNPS for a membership application.

Please send articles, announcements of local activities and news
of interest to the Dade Chapter PO Box or email to the editor (above) by
the 15th of each month to be considered for publication the following
month. Advertising rates from $10/month.